[Warning: Potentially Triggering Content]
We’ve seen stars do a ton of things to rapidly lose weight, but this doctor-approved method seems VERY extreme!
Maisie Williams is set to star in Apple TV+‘s new show The New Look, which will follow fashion icons Christian Dior and Coco Chanel as they navigate World War II. The Game of Thrones alum will be tackling the role of Christian’s sister Catherine Dior — a role that required her to lose 25 pounds! And in the process of prepping for that role, she wound up having nightmares that were “almost like sleep paralysis” because of what she was doing to trim down. Yikes!!
Related: Kelly Clarkson Reveals She Started Weight Loss Because Of Scary Diagnosis!
Speaking to Harper’s Bazaar UK on Tuesday, the actress revealed:
“I was eating very little, meditating all the time, burning candles and incense in my apartment.”
OK, none of that is too unusual. But then the 26-year-old admitted she had a team of medical professionals helping her with the weight loss — which was mostly accomplished by sweating out bodily fluids right before filming! She dished:
“I had to be up at 4 a.m. to start sweating. The night before, at about 7 or 8 p.m. I was allowed to have something salty and dehydrating — some smoked salmon and a tiny glass of wine. Then I had a boiling-hot bath with lots of salts in it. And I sort of levitated to bed and slept for maybe three hours, and woke up and had a handful of nuts.”
This strict regime, which was monitored by her doctors via blood tests and measurements of her heart rate, took such a toll on her that she struggled to sleep through the night. The stress on her body from shedding pounds so dramatically combined with the history of her character — a WWII French resistance fighter — created some intense nightmares! She explained:
“I kept waking up and feeling like a marble inside a bottle, rattling around. […] There was a lot of feeling restricted, almost like sleep paralysis, dreams of being trapped and attacked, and horrible visions of men in uniform.”
Catherine was arrested and tortured by the Gestapo in 1994 after joining the Resistance and sent to a German concentration camp until her release the next year. We can only imagine the kind of horrors that haunted Maisie at night. Jeez…
Despite covering some heavy subjects, the show, which premieres next week, is intended to be “uplifting.” With that, she tried to stay focused on the positive aspects of her character’s life to get through the production, adding:
“Every day of filming was a reminder that we were portraying a story of the horrors that humans are capable of inflicting on one another, but also the magic and the hope and the love.”
Whoa. Must be a really powerful story if she didn’t mind suffering for the art! However this isn’t the first time her body’s been impacted by her job. She also told the outlet her role on the HBO drama required her to “build different muscles” — though it was nothing compared to The New Look, which “took over what I’m eating and how I’m moving and sleeping and thinking.” So intense. Jeez. Hope it was all worth it!! Reactions, y’all? Sound OFF (below)!
If you’re struggling with an eating disorder, there is help available. Consider visiting https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/ or call their hotline at (800)-931-2237 for resources.
[Image via Ivan Nikolov/WENN/Avalon]
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